GALAX, Va. — Before 2015 came to an end, the Forbush Falcons girls basketball team made sure it’d close it out as champions.

The Falcons won the Grayson National Bank Holiday Classic last Wednesday, topping Mount Airy 72-65. A three-day tournament in Virginia, the Falcons didn’t enter as favorites, but after defeating Salem and Grayson County in the first and second round, they had a shot at the top team in the Northwest Athletic Conference.

Entering the game at 11-1 and as the defending tournament champions, the Mount Airy Lady Bears were favored, but that didn’t stop the team from the Western Piedmont Athletic Conference from taking them down. The Falcons outscored the Lady Bears in the first three quarters, leading 51-39 with only eight minutes left to play.

However, the scoring picked up as the Lady Bears put up 26 points in that time frame. That meant the Falcons would have to hold off a late charge, which they did successfully, with 21 points in the final stanza.

With the win, the Falcons moved to 9-3 overall. The Falcons rang in the new year on the road against South Stokes, before playing their second to last non-conference game Wednesday night against East Wilkes. Neither of those scores were available at presstime, but have since been posted on yadkinripple.com.

The Falcons will close out the week Friday night at home against West Stokes.

Ryan DeCosta can be reached at 336-258-4052 or via Twitter @rsdecosta.